This $30 Gadget Allows You To Control The Computer With Your Eyes

There have been many hands-free devices for gaming, computers, and even mobility, i.e. Playstation EyeToy, XBox Kinect, and Leap Motion. However, all of those devices still require the use of your hands, even if you’re not actually touching anything; so what about if you could just use your eyes to do all that for just $30? Well a team of researchers from the Imperial College in London has made that happen.

This nifty gizmo was actually made of a popular gaming console camera that is fast enough to track the movements of a human eye, which can move 10 to 20 times a second. Such parts a made in bulk, so they are much cheaper than previous types of eye-tracking technology that cost upwards of $8000. This device, the GT3D, is made up of a pair of glasses, two attached cameras, and the elastic band to keep the cameras focused on the pupils.

The accuracy of this gadget is pretty incredible at this stage of development, as said by its creators:

“…is so accurate that if you were in a normal-sized room and wearing the device it would be able to locate where you were looking to within the size of a grapefruit.”

While it has many gaming and computing applications, the original intention behind this innovation was for people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, or muscular dystrophy; so while many manufacturers has approached this team for the rights to this technology, they are focused on those in actual need for the product.

It may be a year or two before we this product come to market but could it change the way we compute and game everywhere?